Ahead of the 3rd South African Investment Conference taking place on the 17 – 18 November 2020, the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) is calling on Government to put in place strategic plans to ensure that the investments sought for the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP) is spent in terms of the Plans objectives.

Vishaal Lutchman, CEO of SAICE states, “In the current economic climate and a growing budget deficit we are individually, poorly capacitated for much needed project funding and financing. It is therefore only as a collective that we have a chance to succeed. It is further an imperative that whatever funding we do secure, reaches the intended asset in the most efficient manner possible, more so than ever before”. There are many aspects to “lean” which in the main refers to deployment of quality skills, design, construction techniques, aligned to integrated sectoral strategies to name a few.

Lutchman goes on to state that it is critical that we employ the correct methodologies in selecting priority projects, adopting a multi-sectoral multi-disciplinary approach that is integrated across sectors – if a project has little to no strategic objective then it needs to be re-evaluated. This he believes can be achieved by adopting a systems-thinking approach to enable investments to effectively reach their intended end-users/consumers and reduce the cost of doing business.

The multi-disciplinary approach needs to ensure that the business cases address both the social, economic, technological and environmental aspects to achieve sustainable inclusivity. He states that this needs to go beyond just the projects identified in the ERRP plan but into creating a growing pipeline of projects on the back of sectoral strategies that back our ERRP. The multiplier effect of Public Sector investment is valued at between 4 and 5 times that for the private sector and focussing on only private sector without the commensurate public sector investments may be a challenging.

Luchman believes that we must ensure that the benefits of investment plans going forward must be shared ensuring that not only a select few benefit from these investments but that the benefits are more effectively redistributed to enable economic growth and inclusivity for all.

“We are in a dichotomy where as a country we are losing skills to the detriment of an effective implementation of the ERRP yet we are struggling with capacity within our Public Sector. It is critical that Government and the Private Sector work together to utilise these investments to create an even spread of economic opportunities across society, including opportunities for our youth to create real hope for a prosperous future